Blend all the ingredients. Use yogurt to adjust the thickness to your personal preference. The sauce will taste better chilled. Dill can be replaced with any other greens. A great option if you and your partner prefer healthy food.(more…)

Now that the warmer months of the year have rolled around, swimsuit season is upon us. For this reason, many of us are already planning to go on a diet so that our summer bodies are ready to embrace everything this time of year has to offer. However, dieting isn’t as simple as you think. In fact, it involves some serious decision making.

A healthy lifestyle starts right from what you consume. Lucky enough, people are more conscious than ever about healthy living nowadays. They have greatly embraced the idea of food management for the purpose of saving money, losing weight, and healthy eating.

However, this comes at a cost, and many of them can no longer eat the cheap, low-quality food on offer in most restaurants. They have to pack their food in containers and tag them along, maybe to work in order to eat their favorite meal every few hours. With this in mind, several companies are solving this problem by manufacturing excellent meal preparation bags. So…

Fitness experts, medical doctors, psychologists and even venture capitalists recommend eating better every chance they get. But with fast-food chains readily available within walking distance of workplaces and whole, organic, fresh foods more expensive than their processed counterparts, it’s not easy to implement such expeditious advice.

If this weren’t hard enough as it is, farmers’ markets are sometimes located remotely from central areas, making it an entire adventure to fit a two-way trip in one’s schedule without missing out on an entire afternoon. Moreover, healthy food always seems to taste… well, plain-old bland in comparison to ice-creams or the good, old-fashioned burger. Not even those venture capitalists would spend their life-earned investments on such odds.

Nonetheless, when it comes to the quality of one’s life, all of these problems fade away and turn into mere hindrances that are easy to deal with. Below, you’ll find some of the fastest and cheapest ways of delivering some richness to your healthy food. Using this advice, you can also improve upon 6 of the best pre workout meals you need to know.

It’s 5am, and you are standing in the light of your fridge, with a ladle in the Nutella jar, greedily chomping down any hope that you were going to eat well that day.

“Maybe tomorrow will be the day I lock down my nutrition,” you tell yourself.

“There, there—of course tomorrow will be the day,” the not-so-helpful you replies, the ladle craning towards your mouth, brimming with that sweet, sweet hazelnut spread.

If this feels familiar (and lawd knows it does for me), you aren’t alone.

We all struggle mightily with our nutrition at one point. Or many points. Or all the fuckin’ time.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. And before you laugh and shuffle off to another one of the 7 tabs you have open, you should consider starting a food diary.

Maybe you’ve thought about writing your food before.

Then you were like, “Nah, I ain’t got time for that.”

Or you snickered at the idea of keeping a “food diary.”

Sounds kinda prissy, right?

But really, put aside giving a baker’s hoot what others may or may not think for a moment.

If you want to feel metric butt-ton better, have higher and more consistent energy levels over the course of the day, and you know, beast at a 20% harder rate*, then start putting pen to paper and unleash this certified and proven weapon for kicking names and taking ass—err—in the kitchen.

* Anecdotal approximation. See a doctor if it lasts longer than 4 hours.

Here’s how a food journal will help you open a can of whoop-ass in the gym and in life:(more…)

Muscle gain is not just about what you do in the gym. Although you can’t just eat your way to a dream body, your nutrition can enhance and help you on your journey to a leaner and a more muscular body. If you want to gain muscle faster, add these five foods to your shopping basket.

Meat – Beef and chicken

Protein is of course what your muscles are made of and it shouldn’t come as a surprise then that meat is good for muscle gain. Different meats are the easiest way to eat vast quantities of meat and protein isn’t the only thing going for them – meat also comes back with essential nutrients and vitamins.

The two best meats to opt for include beef and chicken. Lean beef is full of iron and zinc, which are essential for a healthy body. Furthermore, lean beef has a high level of amino acid, which will work together with insulin to promote and boost muscle growth.

You should also opt for chicken (if you’re also trying to cut, get rid of the skin) when looking for high quality protein. Chicken can help with bone health, which is a crucial part of muscle growth. Chicken can easily be spiced with different mixtures to make it taste delicious and ensure you’re not eating the same tasting food every day.(more…)

When we mention the term “Superfoods” it is not uncommon for there to be a sense of confusion among most people. This is not really surprising either. While consuming nutrient dense foods is an ancient practice, the concept is basically lost in our fast-paced and convenience focused culture. Only recently has there been mainstream attention and research towards the importance of introducing this kind of nutrition back into the human diet.

The term “Superfood” refers to any nutrient-dense food that is widely considered to be beneficial towards our health and overall well-being. The term is a relatively new one, having only generated popularity in the last 20 years or so. However, the idea is simple. Foods that have a wide-ranging nutritional profile that includes; micro & macro-nutrients, phytochemicals, phytopigments, antioxidants, vitamin and trace minerals.

Most “superfoods” are plant based covering everything from fruits, vegetables, sea-vegetables, grains, nuts, grasses and herbs. There are even many all-in-one type of green superfood supplement powders. There are also some superfoods that are derived from fish as well. While most “superfood” products will have different ingredients and ratios of such, for the most part they will typically include all the same stuff.

What can Green Superfoods do for you?

There are so many benefits from regularly consuming foods considered to be “superfoods”. Whether you are consuming a green drink in the morning, or eating dense salads at lunch, or ending your day with a chia-seed pudding. By including any, or all of these foods into your diet most people will agree that you will see and feel great results.

The increase in foods rich in antioxidants like beta-carotene will add great regenerative and overall health benefits to your body. This plays an important role regardless if you are a young child, an athlete, a middle-aged parent, or an old timer. The ability to fight off illness and increase recovery time is crucial to living longer, and staying healthy and fit along the way.

“Superfoods” can offer a host of essential vitamins and minerals like B1, B2, B6, B12, folic acid, potassium, calcium, iron, phosphorus and magnesium. There are ingredients that are otherwise quite uncommon in a typical diet today. On average most Americans are lacking in essential vitamins and minerals that help our body maintain itself, and the vitamins we do take are usually in the form of capsules or sugary pills that do not always absorb into the body sufficiently to have an impact.

Greens, which make up the majority of the “superfood” category, are extremely important to the body. Not only do they provide fiber, but they are also alkaline forming. By maintaining a balanced ph level in the body, research has shown that it will help prevent the formation of many health related issues, including cancer. (more…)

Protein is an essential building block to the body, as it helps create strong muscles, bones and even blood. Athletes and those who exercise hard are among those who are at high-risk to be protein deficient.

Your body may be sending you signals that you aren’t getting enough protein, but you may be interpreting these signals as something else. Take a look at the following examples of symptoms that can be misinterpreted as another issue in the body.

Are Your Muscles a Pain?

Many people believe in the old adage, “no pain no gain.” However, sore muscles may

be a sign that you are protein deficient. Because muscles use Amino Acids as their building structure and Amino Acids come from protein, if you aren’t getting enough your muscles may feel sore and weak. Lack of protein can also cause flab to appear where you once had muscles, because your body may be using those muscle as protein for the body. If you are feeling sore muscles or even joints, take an inventory of your protein intake. Adding a bit of protein with a nutritional supplement like Advocare may help those sore muscles disappear.

As a woman who is extremely active (I do crossfit four times a week), I rebelled for the longest time against adding more protein to my diet.

The majority of the advertisements that I saw for protein powder featured guys that looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his heyday.

And while I would not mind my husband sporting those round shoulders, there was no way I wanted my physique to resemble anything remotely close to that.

My misconception of the effect that protein has on the body is very common among many women.

Protein is a crucial nutrient for the body. In fact, it accounts for 20 percent of our body weight, and helps in the synthesis of hormones, enzymes and vital cellular structures.

Protein also assists with fluid balance and the building of antibodies that protect against infection and other harmful viruses. In short, if we do not supply our bodies with the proper amount of protein, we cannot survive.

That is why it is so important to understand the crucial role that protein plays in maintaining overall health, especially since many women limit their protein consumption because of the myths associated with it.

Some women fear that high-protein diets may cause them to look too “bulky,” can compromise bone health or may be taxing on the kidneys. However, these assumptions are nothing more than myths that should be set straight for a variety of reasons.

Top 5 Effective Healthy Eating Plans Review

Finding the right diet plan can be very challenging because there are plenty of diet plans to choose from. However, as long as you know the things to consider in choosing the best healthy diet plan, you can ensure that it will help you in losing weight. An effective and safe diet plan should be scientifically evaluated as well as recommended by the health and wellness authorities.

It is important to choose diet plan that helps the dieter not only in losing weight but also lead healthier life. Thus, you should know the top 5 diet plans that you can consider in losing weight.